Nicaragua: CSW calls for proof of life and freedom for arrested lay leaders

One of the missing women: Carmen María Sáenz Martinez

Source: CSW

CSW is calling for the Nicaraguan government to provide evidence of proof of life and free two Roman Catholic lay leaders detained on 10 August 2024. Carmen María Sáenz Martinez, age 49, and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, age 58, were not included in the group of the 135 political prisoners expatriated from Nicaragua to Guatemala on 5 September.

Both women worked with the Matagalpa Diocese, formerly led by the now exiled former political prisoner Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, which has been a particular target of the government. Mrs Gutiérrez Poveda has worked with the diocese's rural and urban credit project since 2006, while Mrs Sáenz Martinez has worked as a justice promoter in cases of marriage annulments since 2018.

Police in two patrol cars arrested Mrs Gutiérrez Poveda at 8am on 10 August at the Guadalupana Farm in Samulali, San Ramón Municipality. Mrs Sáenz Martinez was detained and taken from her home in Lomas de San Thomas, Matagalpa City at 6am the same day by two police units comprising 15 officers wearing ski masks and carrying AK-47s. Their families have had no communication with the women and no assurance that they are alive since then.

On Thursday 5 September, 135 political prisoners were released and immediately expatriated to Guatemala in an agreement reached between Nicaragua, the United States, and a number of other countries. The group included other Roman Catholic lay leaders and Protestant pastors associated with the Mountain Gateway organisation and their lawyers. US government representatives told CSW that the 135 individuals will now have the opportunity to apply for humanitarian parole in the US from Guatemala, or relocation to another country.

Family members of detainees told CSW that they were taken by surprise as the Nicaraguan government did not inform them, or allow the members of the forcibly exiled group to communicate with their families prior to the expatriation. Many recounted spending up to 24 hours frantically trying to ascertain whether their loved one was in the group. By the evening of 6 September, the families of Mrs Gutiérrez Poveda and Mrs Sáenz Martinez had confirmed that they were not in the group, and presumably remain in prison somewhere in Nicaragua.

CSW's Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: "We call on the Nicaraguan government to urgently provide proof of life for Carmen María Sáenz Martinez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda to their families and to free them immediately and without condition. Neither woman has committed any crime except to commit their lives to serve their communities, through the Roman Catholic Church and inspired by their faith. We are grateful to the US and Guatemalan governments for their role in securing the release of the 135 political prisoners who were released into exile last week but note that those released never should have been in prison in the first place, and still find themselves separated from their families and loved ones. The international community, and especially its neighbours in Latin America, should make it clear to the Nicaraguan government that its continued onslaught against independent civil society, including human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists, and religious leaders is must end."